Your motoring plans for 2026?

Replaced the 2022 LRSM Polestar 2 in October with a 2021 Mercedes Benz EQC. Bought in finance to get the 3 year warranty and I’ve just paid it off with a lump sum payment after finishing one career and starting another.

Good thing too - I made 3 payments totalling over a grand and paid less than £500 capital :eek:

It’ll keep me going till the new E Class is released…
 
sigma said:
COVID era pushed up prices and they seemingly have stuck.
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Cars...houses...graphics cards...

fez said:
Is car pricing these days a reflection of costs or more a reflection of the fact most people lease their cars in some fashion so the sticker price isn't such an issue.
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It also means there's a glut of 3 year old cars available. I pulled some numbers off Autotrader. I don't know why I'm surprised that Electric has overtaken diesel with such enthusiasm, and HEVs alone are about to surpass Petrol. If you add PHEVs then Petrol slipped to second place with 2025 models.

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We're vaguely looking at cars as our Peugeot 3008 is a bit crap, the adblue tank needs replacing because, well, its an awful system and broken like so many of them.

I've been looking at some of the more premium cars like an XC60 but for a 2019 model with 80k plus miles on the clock you are still looking at nearly £20k. For a car that is nearly 7 years old with a reasonable number of miles on the clock. Madness.

Every time I look at cars I just cannot fathom how people are forking out this sort of money unless this is their hobby and the money isn't really such a concern.
 
fez said:
We're vaguely looking at cars as our Peugeot 3008 is a bit crap, the adblue tank needs replacing because, well, its an awful system and broken like so many of them.

I've been looking at some of the more premium cars like an XC60 but for a 2019 model with 80k plus miles on the clock you are still looking at nearly £20k. For a car that is nearly 7 years old with a reasonable number of miles on the clock. Madness.

Every time I look at cars I just cannot fathom how people are forking out this sort of money unless this is their hobby and the money isn't really such a concern.
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I was looking at a facelift (so 67+ reg) V60 Cross Country a while back and they were all £20k with 70k on the clock. Ended up going for a 17 reg B9 A4 Allroad for £16k. I still prefer the Volvo but it wasn't worth the extra 25%.
It's still a lot of money though; we got a good deal on finance and it's still costing us the same as leasing a brand new XC40...I can understand why so many people go that route.
 
iamgigglz said:
I was looking at a facelift (so 67+ reg) V60 Cross Country a while back and they were all £20k with 70k on the clock. Ended up going for a 17 reg B9 A4 Allroad for £16k. I still prefer the Volvo but it wasn't worth the extra 25%.
It's still a lot of money though; we got a good deal on finance and it's still costing us the same as leasing a brand new XC40...I can understand why so many people go that route.
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You'll own that car after 3 years though I assume vs owning absolutely nothing on a leasing contract. I just can't make the maths work on these premium cars. £400 or so a month for a car I don't own. The sort of money that would pay off my mortgage years and years early if I threw it at that instead.
 
Seeing this thread has motivated me to update my planner for the year with car stuff.

1. I am looking to buy a 190e/190d in Portugal. Every one I have seen on market place this week has been a bit of a basket case, or 7.5k euros for something absolutely ordinary. I'm reconsidering what I actually want which is the 190e I dreamed of when I was younger, and I think that might mean building one from the ground up. M104 or om606 engine swap, 16v body kit, MB tex black leather interior and an ASD/LSD.

2. I need to finish off a long list of jobs on my campervan and get that sold this summer. I hate this thing because of how much money has gone into it so I want it gone.

3. I have a clio 182 back in England that is full of mold, I'd like to get that MOT'ed at the end of the month and plan a track day for the spring.

4. I also have a car that was passed onto me from my grandad that has been in storage for 8 years that I need to revive before it deteriorates more. I attempted this last year but the person I pay to look after it was busy so perhaps this could be the year it see's the road again.
 
1. Continue to run my solid 2004 ST170 and hope the clutch holds out for another year. New head gasket last year and still runs as good as it did when I bought it in 2007.
2. Hope my wife’s ingenium diesel Evoque doesn’t lunch itself. She loves the car and won’t be told it’s overdue a catastrophic engine event.
 
Got the Passat for another year.

Though I have been tempted to buy something silly for the summer and sell it again, more of a box ticking thing than something I'd keep. Maybe a Caterham or a cheap porsche. I don't need a car, but it'd be fun to own something fun again with minimal loss.

fez said:
We're vaguely looking at cars as our Peugeot 3008 is a bit crap, the adblue tank needs replacing because, well, its an awful system and broken like so many of them.

I've been looking at some of the more premium cars like an XC60 but for a 2019 model with 80k plus miles on the clock you are still looking at nearly £20k. For a car that is nearly 7 years old with a reasonable number of miles on the clock. Madness.

Every time I look at cars I just cannot fathom how people are forking out this sort of money unless this is their hobby and the money isn't really such a concern.
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I think a lot of them are on business benefits, the XC60 is on our list and may be tempted come renewel time. Works out cheap enough and I drive a lot for work, so it's nice to be in something comfy.
 
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Just got hold of an Ex-MOD 1985 Landrover 110 (Tithonus) - needs some work, some of the usual Landrover stuff, other bits a bit difficult to diagnose (think the brake servo is gone and the vacuum pump is venting into the crankcase causing overpressure and oil leaks) but I will do whats necessary over the next couple of months and have some fun in the Summer :-) Purposely went for one as basic as possible, 2.5D no turbo, no power steering, no digital anything. Let the learning begin.....

Just putting it on the historical register, so no car tax to pay :-) (and the dirty engine is ULEZ compliant!!!)
 
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Probably continue the weight saving exercise of letting them rust even more :( my Audi A4 failed it's MOT at the weekend.

The sti tax is £430 and due this month. Sti due it's MOT at the beginning of next month and the rear wheel arches are rusty again. Only go them welded about 2-3 years ago. Clearly did a poor job. So I'm guessing it's going to fail and I'll get another expensive trip to the body shop although it will be a different one this time. Still need to get the wheels refurbished. Needs new suspension again as the bilstein B14s are knocking.

The Hyundai i30 is working currently as the daily banger. Couldn't care less about it. Might change the oil when the weather gets better. Steering is knocking when I turn on the spot. As long as the wheels don't fall off it's fine.

Might go to the meet at ocuk. Other than that it will be driving to work and back.

If my garage was actually water tight I'd sawn the sti and sort a load of things myself but every time it rains heavily it turns into a swimming pool.
 
Posted elsewhere but the MG4 company car goes back at the end of March and decided not to get another EV/Company car but instead get my old cars back on the road and go back to killing the planet like a good petrolhead :p

Got an '06 MX-5 NC, which I left outside, without a cover, for the last 2.5 years or so... Also a '03 Celica T-Sport which failed it's MOT before being parked in the garage around the same time.

The Celica failed on 5 things, 2 of which were welding related, fixed the other 3 and then did basically nothing for years cause laziness. Got a welder, got some sheet steel, not really done much welding but I'm sure it'll be fine. Been slow going making and bending parts but I'm close to trying the first actual weld and hopefully it'll get quicker/easier from there.

The MX-5 on the other hand I went out a few weeks ago naively expecting it to start pretty easily but discovered shockingly that a convertible left in the elements for years was full of water, condensation and mould. Oh, and it didn't start. Making way more progress on this really, got it dried out and replaced/upgraded the hood drains along with the cowl grommets which are the two biggest source of leaks, that did involve taking out most of the interior but also cleaned that up as I've gone so should be good as it goes together. Last step on the interior before re-assembly is to wash the seat belts, both cause the drivers one especially is a bit nasty but to hopefully improve the retraction which is a common issue.

Then discs need replacing and a good check over everything for an MOT but hopefully gonna get that sorted in the next week or two and then it's good to go.

Actually really looking forward to driving a petrol, manual and small car again... The MG4 is hardly a huge car but compared to the MX-5 it's pretty big :p
 
First, I want to take care of some long-overdue maintenance, such as refreshing the suspension and replacing the brakes. The car still runs great, but I’d rather stay ahead of any potential problems. I’m also considering a mild tune-up to make daily driving a bit more fun, but nothing aggressive.
If everything goes well, I might upgrade the wheels and tires before summer. It's not a priority, but it's been on my wish list for a while. I’d also love to take at least one proper road trip into neighboring countries.
 
Toying with the idea of either a Renault 5 GT Turbo or Renault Clio Williams 1/2 as a weekend toy to relive "the good old days" of my motoring youth!
 
My plan was to replace my E92 335d with a MK7 Golf GTI or Octavia vRS, because my commute dropped from 60 miles per day down to 20 miles per day in 2025. I'm still looking at AT for cars, but I'm not liking the job as much as I hoped, so I don't want to jump into something petrol powered just for my commute to increase again. I've had enough seat time in various Golfs and Octavias (thanks to my current job) to feel I'd be happy enough with either as long as I had a pokey version. I like knowing I've got some power there if I need it, but don't feel the need to use it all the time, and I'd like to go back to something with a manual gearbox. I've also thought about an M240i, but budget doesn't allow for a good one of those yet.

Otherwise, I also need to get around to getting some welding done on the E46. It has been sat on the driveway over winter (no MOT) with me looking at it longingly, other than when I've occasionally gone out to start it and move it around a bit. Sitting around hasn't done it much good as the battery is now flat as a pancake and won't hold charge, both front tyres are perished and it still needs new front discs and pads because my initial attempt to change the front brakes ready for the MOT is how I found out that the front jacking point needed welding. The E46 isn't worth anything to anyone other than me, so its also tempting to get it back up together and just smoke around in that and sell/not replace the E92.
 
Had my pride and joy Audi A1 S line with some mods for 5 years now and looking to upgrade.

I want a hatchback and Mrs says get a saloon but the latter have limited options in the market. Want something practical but also fun and keep landing on a Focus ST 2019 era... It ticks all the boxes BUT....its a Focus

Eyeing of Honda Civic Type R, BMW 330e or Golf R but it keeps changing every week lol
 
elrasho said:
Had my pride and joy Audi A1 S line with some mods for 5 years now and looking to upgrade.

I want a hatchback and Mrs says get a saloon but the latter have limited options in the market. Want something practical but also fun and keep landing on a Focus ST 2019 era... It ticks all the boxes BUT....its a Focus

Eyeing of Honda Civic Type R, BMW 330e or Golf R but it keeps changing every week lol
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Practical, hatchback boot, fun, a nice place to be too.
 
Gearbox oil change on the Mrs's Kona EV. Taking it to Holland with bicycles for a cycling holiday.

Take the mx5 to the Nurburgring if I have enough annual leave left.

Get the 1975 CB200 roadworthy and actually on the road if I pass big bike test.
 
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I drive a 2024 Tuscon (facelift) which has been a great family car, and a 2017 Qashqai which I would very much like to change. I'm trying to convince my wife to take the Tuscon so I can get a PHEV/EV for commuting.

I've got to say the Chinese cars do look very appealing at the price they're being offered. I can imagine there will be some real bargains on 1 year old cars in the coming months.
 
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